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Hey y’all, and thanks for stopping by! Today, I just wanted to share with you how changing a colors and textures can transform a a particular area in your home. Take, for instance, my window seat. I was getting pretty tired of that area and needed something different.

Below is a before pic…

Yes, I liked the fabric when I first safety-pinned (hey…don’t judge) it on a few months ago (during the Fall). And I made the pillows to pull out the colors on the seat cushion. (DIY pillow covers found here.) But with Spring around the corner, I needed a change. This setup was just too BLAH for me.

So, I shopped my house, and threw this simple arrangement together….

Nothing fancy. Just something different. It’s cute, and I like the neutral. It’s hard to tell in the picture, but the seat fabric is a real fun straw material. The white pillow and insert are from Ikea, and the rug and wreath were purchased on sale at Target. And the chalkboard is just chalk paint applied to the wall, with trim nailed around it.

Here’s my other option…

Isn’t it amazing how just one item can totally change the look of a space?! I love how this rug brings such life to this little nook in my kitchen! It was also purchased on sale at Target. What do you think? Which one is your favorite? I’d love to hear from you! Comment below, or stop by and say hey on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. It always makes my day to hear from my awesome readers!

Hey friends! Thanks for stopping by! Today, I wanted to share with you about my thrifted dining room table and chairs renovation!

I refinished this set from Goodwill a few years back, but it’s still beautiful and in great shape! I absolutely LOVE the cane chairs and the curves of the table legs. And — knock on wood — the cane chairs have held up after all these years! 🙂 Lol!

What I used….

sanding paper and sanding block

large paint roller

can of white paint

can of clear polyurethane (the first time around…read below)

The pic below shows how it started out…an old, dilapidated mess! You can’t see in the pic, but all of the chairs had some 80’s fabric that was covered with a clear plastic tarp thingie (?). It wasn’t pretty! And you can see the watermarks on the table as well!

First, my sweet honey carried the table and chairs onto our back patio to protect against the fumes AND to keep from having to sweep up the big mess I was about to make. 🙂

Next, I sanded down the table to give it a rough edge, so the paint would stick. Third, after wiping off the grime from the sand job, I began to paint. It only needed a couple of good coats.

Now, came the exciting part! It was time to adhere the poly! (I used polyurethane only on the tabletop, in order to protect the surface.) So as I painted the poly on, I noticed that a yellowish tint started to appear. And being the newbies that we were to refinishing furniture, my hubby and I both thought that maybe it would dry clear….Afterall, the outside of the can DID say that it was a clear poly. Below is a pic of how it dried. An ugly yellow. Just terrible.

I was so disappointed that it didn’t dry clear like it was supposed to! So, I started over. Thankfully, there’s this wonderful product for people like me who have to start again or who want to strip paint off of something! It’s called Citristip, and it worked like a dream! It’s wonderful! I just followed the directions on the bottle, and the layers of paint and the yellow poly came right off. It was amazing! Below is a pic of what it looks like, once applied.

One good thing that came from this project is the fact that I realized (after sanding the poly off) that I liked the tabletop a natural finish instead of what I originally planned, which was a white tabletop!

So, after learning my lesson the first time, I repainted and then applied what’s called Waterlox. And I’m here to tell you that this product actually DID dry clear (or at least as clear as one can get with a “natural” finish)! I just painted the Waterlox on the top of the table and on the arms of the chairs….wherever I thought there’d be a lot of wear and tear.

So there you have it, folks. My refinished kitchen table and chairs. We eat on this table; we do homework and projects on this table; we use the sewing machine on this table….What can I say?! We use this table for everything, and it’s held up beautifully! I haven’t reapplied Waterlox yet, but I probably should soon since I clean it all the time with soapy water and a sponge.

Please let me know what you think! Have you ever had a mishap with poly? I’d love to hear your story! Comment below, or stop by Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest and say hello!

Hello friends! Thanks for stopping by! Today, I’d like to share with you our tiny entryway and the fun components that make up this little space. As you read this post, you’ll find that most of the items are either diy or second-hand. Yay for both!

{But first, I need to mention that there are a couple of other things that I’d like to change about this space, such as paint the interior door and add a skinny (and I mean skinny) piece of furniture to go below the mirror! But all of these wishes will have to come on a later day. Eventually…}

First, I’d like to point out that that “curtain” is not a curtain at all! It’s simply a piece of fabric (purchased at a local discount fabric store) that I clipped onto my Target drapery hardware. I didn’t do any sewing or hemming….It’s just a long piece of fabric that’s tucked under at the bottom. Can’t get much simpler than that! And that curtain rod is wonderful….Very inexpensive from Target and super-easy to install!

Second, let’s talk about that pretty gold frame. I love its curves! It started out as a dull, brown frame that I picked up at a Goodwill clearance center for only pennies! I spray-painted it metallic gold and taped a fun chalk-art print onto the back and voila! Look at the beauty!

Third, my sweet honey surprised me with this beautiful chandelier! He knew I had eyed it the week before at an antiques’ store, so out of his thoughtfulness, he brought it home one day after a long business trip. Yes, I have a keeper of a husband!

Chandeliers are so easy to spray paint. It was an ugly color before, so applying an off-white spray paint gave it new life!

And now, I’d love to talk about my fave part of the entry….my new antique Duncan Phyfe 1940’s sewing cabinet! Isn’t she a beauty?!

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I purchased it at an antiques’ store that’s closing its door at the end of this month. Thus, I got this gorgeous piece for a fraction of the cost!

I just love it! And it’s the perfect size for this little space! Look inside these drawers…I found old spools that came with the cabinet! How fun is that?!

So….I’m still trying to decide what I should do with this little piece of history….leave it alone or paint it? What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Hello friends! Thanks so much for stopping by! Today, I’d like to share with you my thrift-store score of the year and how I changed it from a dingy, old piece of furniture to something beautiful!

A few months ago, I found this antique headboard at one of my fave thrift stores for (drum roll, please!) $30!!! You read that right! It was old and boring, but I looked past that and saw that it had great bones and great potential!

Here’s the before pic…

Chalk paint is so easy to use! There’s no stripping, sanding or priming required, and because it doesn’t have smelly fumes, you can use it inside your home! Woohoo!

What I used for this project:

Rub N Buff

pouncer

foam sponge brush

blue painter’s tape

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

I used two different colors of chalk paint….The base coat was the “Pure White” and the next coat was the “Old White.” And I applied two coats of each color. After that was complete, I taped off and painted the medallions.

Usually, when using chalk paint, applying a clear wax coat on top is so important. But since it’s just pillows that are leaning up against our new headboard, I skipped that step….And it’s held up great!

What do you think of this headboard of mine? I’m so pleased with it, and I love the freshness that it adds to our bedroom!

And what do you think about the diy lamps? If you’re interested in those, check this post out on how to make yard sale lamps look like a million bucks! And do you recognize the bedside tables? There’s a fun post on tweaking them just a small bit!

Thanks again for stopping by! I love your comments and encouraging words! You can comment below, or stop by and say hey on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. It always makes my day to hear from my sweet readers!

Update: Hey y’all! Here’s an updated photo of our headboard and the Ikea dresser on my side of the bed. I recently shared it on Instagram. 😉 And if you’re interested to know….Yes, the chalk paint on the headboard has held up extremely well!

Hey sweet friends! Thanks so much for stopping by today! Before we begin, don’t forget to follow along with me on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, so you don’t miss another post!

Today, I wanted to share with you a fun and inexpensive way to add a little pizazz to your home!

A few weeks back, when I was perusing one of my fave thrift stores, I noticed this trailer hitch cover for 99 cents and had to have it….I knew exactly what I was going to do with this beauty! I know, I know…He looks pretty boring and outdated. And yes, I definitely agree with you, but that’s the beauty of thrift-store shopping! You have to look past what you see at first glance and realize the potential of what this dull deer head can become!

Here’s a before pic…

Here’s what you’ll need:

First, spray paint your deer head. Don’t worry about taping off the antlers….The Rub N Buff will easily cover any of the white paint you get on your antlers. 🙂 Let dry overnight (i.e. if you’re planning to tape off the edges around your antlers, like I did.).

Oh, and while you’re at it, be sure to enjoy a few Krispy Kreme donuts while you paint….That melt-in-your-mouth goodness added a touch of magic!! (Meant to take that box out of the above picture…Oops!)

Once your white paint is dry, tape around your antlers, and, using your pouncer, spread the Rub N Buff on your antlers. This paint will take a little while to dry, so don’t touch it for at least a couple of hours….BUT be sure to take your tape off immediately, once you’re finished painting the gold onto the antlers!

So, what do you think about my trailer hitch turned gorgeous deer head?! I’m in love with it, and I hope you are, too! I’d love to hear your thoughts! Thanks for stopping by!

Hello friends! Thanks for stopping by! Today, I wanted to share with you a quick and easy project that costs very little, yet packs a powerful punch in your decor! But before we begin, I wanted to remind you to follow along with me on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, HomeTalk and Facebook, so you don’t miss another post!

Let’s get started!

What you’ll need:

chalkboard paint (located in the paint section at Walmart, Home Depot, etc.)

foam sponge with wooden handle

paper plate

painter’s tape

frame with glass

My diy chalkboard started out like this….

The print’s pretty ugly, huh?! It definitely needed to be covered!

First, tape up the edges of your frame, and make sure there are no unsealed edges! You don’t want that black paint dripping onto your frame. You could always chip it off later if you needed to, but that’s an added step that you just don’t want to have to do! 🙂

Next, with your sponge in hand and paint poured onto your plate, gently paint the chalk paint across the glass, making sure to spread it evenly. Once your glass is covered, let it dry for about an hour before applying your next coat. If not, as you paint the second coat, some of the paint will come up. You don’t want that! 🙂

Third, after you’ve completely covered the glass with chalk paint, gently pull the painter’s tape off. (Don’t “rip” it off, or you’ll end up pulling some of the chalk paint off as well! Trust me, I know! Lol!)

Finally, you’ll want to “season” your newly-painted chalkboard with chalk! How to season: take a piece of chalk, turn it on its side, and rub the chalk back and forth AND up and down on the board, covering the glass completely. (If not, you’ll NEVER be able to fully erase what you’ve written on your board!) Wipe with a soft rag or paper towel, and then blow off any excess. Now, it’s ready to be used!! You can add your favorite scripture, or google “chalk art” and find all sorts of inspiring ideas! In addition to the diy scripture below, here’s another one that I did (source included). Or, if you don’t want to do any art, you can always simply hang a pretty wreathe in the middle!

Here’s what the finished product looks like now in our Sunday school room…

That’s it! This project is very easy, and I think every home owner needs at least a couple of chalkboards in their home! This decor is such an inexpensive upgrade and makes a beautiful statement!

Also, on another note, did you happen to notice the lamp and shade in the above pic? That’s actually a thrifted lamp, and it received a major overhaul! If you’d like to read all about that diy project, the easy tutorial on recovering a lamp shade can be found here, and the how-to on spray-painting a lamp can be found here.

Thanks for stopping by! If you have any questions at all, please feel free to comment below, or stop by Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, HomeTalk and Facebook and say hey. It always makes my day to hear from my sweet readers!

Hello friends! Today, I’d like to share with you a recipe that will blow your socks off! My sweet mother-in-law introduced this dish to me when my honey and I got married, and it’s become a tradition for our family to enjoy this yummy dish every Christmas! Enjoy!

Below are the ingredients….Looks like a lot, but it only takes about 10 minutes to throw together!

First, slice the buns (or bread) into 1″ cubes and place half of them into your 9 x 13 pan.

Next, slice the cream cheese into 1″ cubes and toss over the buns in your pan.

Third, pour the blueberries on top of the buns and cream cheese.

Fourth, pour all that delicious sugar all over your blueberries mixture. I know, I know….It’s a lot of sugar, huh?! That’s why I only make it once (or twice, lol!) a year! 🙂

Fifth, after combining the eggs, milk and syrup in a large bowl, carefully pour it over the blueberries and cream cheese mixture.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 25-30 more minutes or until golden brown. (If you use your Pampered Chef Stoneware pan like I did, you can count on baking your creation for about 10 more minutes.) 😉

When the casserole has about 15 minutes left in the oven, make your blueberry sauce and then drizzle (or pour, haha!) your mouthwatering sauce over the decadent casserole. It’ll hopefully end up looking something like this….

Pair this recipe with some yummy bacon and sausage links, and you’ve got a hearty meal! Enjoy!

Blueberry French Toast Casserole

Ingredients for the Casserole…

2 8-oz. pkgs cream cheese

2 c fresh or frozen blueberries

1/3 c sugar

12 eggs

2 c milk

1/3 c maple or syrup or honey

Ingredients for the Sauce….

2 c sugar

4 T cornstarch

2 c water

2 c fresh or frozen blueberries

2 T butter

Slice rolls into 1″ cubes. Place HALF in a greased 9 x 13 pan. Cut cream cheese into 1″ cubes. Sprinkle over buns. Top with blueberries and sprinkle with sugar. Add remaining buns. In large bowl, beat eggs. Add milk and syrup; mix well. Pour over bread mixture. Cover and chill for 8 hours or overnight. Uncover; bake 25-30 minutes more or until golden brown and until the center is set.

Sauce: In a saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch; add water. Bring to boil over medium heat; boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in blueberries; reduce heat. Simmer for 8-10 minutes or until berries have burst. Stir in butter until melted. Serve over french toast.

Hello friends! Decorating for Christmas can sometimes be a daunting task….so much garland, lights, ornaments and red and green! But hopefully, this little vignette will inspire you to keep it simple and just have fun in the process!

All of these items, and I mean every single item (well, except for the cheese board from Pottery Barn) were picked up at various yard sales, thrift stores and antique stores. My favorite purchase is the set of santa mugs and santa pitcher….The total for this purchase was $4!!! What?! Yes….$4! 🙂

Look how cute and vintage-y he is!

This little car is on loan from my sweet boy. I promised him I wouldn’t spray paint that car like I did the antlers. (He was traumatized.)

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in our household. Special memories being made here. So thankful. I hope you enjoyed this little preview of our winter wonderland! If you’d like to see more Christmas ideas, check out this post on diy Christmas glitter houses. They were so much fun to make! Or, visit this post on our farmhouse-styled Christmas entry! In this accessory-filled post, I share all about mixing new items with vintage finds…and how it all came together. 😉

You know I love to hear from you! If you have a minute, please comment below, or stop by my Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest and follow along as I share with you inspiring decor, yummy recipes and thrifty finds! Merry Christmas! 🙂

Hey friends! Thanks for stopping by! Recently, I did a little redecorating in our Sunday School class at church, and most of the decorating was completed on a shoestring budget! (Thank you to my wonderful hubby for helping me paint….ehem…..actually for doing most of the painting!!) Today, I’d like to share with you one of those projects….transforming an old, dilapidated lamp shade into a beautiful accessory!

A few weeks ago, I picked up a huge lamp with the shade for $5….It worked just fine and the bones were beautiful, but it needed some major lovin’! Here’s a before pic….(I’m sorry I don’t have the shade on the lamp! I totally forgot to take a complete pic before I refinished it!)

After spray-painting the lamp base (tutorial on how to spray paint a lamp found here), I recovered the shade with some fabric that I had laying around the house. This project is super-quick, and you probably already have all 3 supplies that are needed!

Here’s what you’ll need:

fabric

hot glue gun and glue sticks (found at craft stores or Target/Walmart in the craft section)

scissors

1. Start out by laying your fabric face down on the floor. Place the shade on one end of the fabric, while leaving plenty of seam allowance (about 2 inches) on either side of your shade. And then roll your shade across the fabric to see how much you’ll need. (You can either trace the shade onto the fabric as you roll it, or you can just eyeball it….which is what I did.) Now, you can cut your fabric! BUT before you cut your fabric to size, PLEASE measure twice…no three times…before cutting! Not that I’ve ever cut my fabric too short….Ahem. 😉 Not fun to fix that problem!

2. After cutting your fabric, lay the shade about 2 inches away from the fabric’s edge. You are now ready to hot glue!

3. Place about a 6-inch line of hot glue along the inside edge of the shade (starting out on either the top or the bottom of the shade). Tightly fold your fabric over the shade and push down the fabric onto the hot glue, holding it in place for a few seconds. Keep doing this all the way around the shade while continuing to smooth out your fabric, on both the top and bottom. Also, if your shade is like mine, where the “spider-fitter” (or metal piece that connects your shade to the lamp) is at the top, carefully cut slits in the fabric, so that the fabric will fold over the shade correctly.

4. Once you’ve hot glued the fabric tightly AROUND the lamp shade, place a skinny strip of hot glue UP the outside part of the shade’s edge. (On a side note, you can either leave the edge raw….which is what I chose to do….or you can iron your seam to give it a finished look. But since my lamp was against a wall, I didn’t have to worry about the back edge.)

And there you have it! A beautiful shade that adds so much life! You can also take it a step further and add trim along the top and bottom edge for a more dramatic effect. What do you think of my lamp shade? Are you inspired to make a lifeless lamp look gorgeous again? If so, I’d love to hear about it! Comment below, or stop by and say hey on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. It always makes my day to hear from my awesome readers! 😉

Hello friends! For a few weeks, I’d been on the hunt for a pair of matching lamps for our master bedroom….Lamps that had pretty curves for the right price!

My goal was to get a steal of a deal…no more than $15 each….I realize that’s cheap, but I also knew that, with a little patience, I could find what I was looking for. So a few weeks ago, I found these beauties at a yard sale! The man was selling the lamps for $5 each. But since I wasn’t certain that the lamps worked, I offered $4 for the PAIR, and he said yes! Can you believe that?! I kept my fingers crossed, hoping that when I plugged them in at home, they’d actually turn on. Aaaaaand….they did! Score! Sometimes it doesn’t always work that way, but yay for times when it does!!

What you’ll need:

Krylon Colormaster spray paint (I used the ivory color.)

Rub’n Buff (at any craft store)

pouncer sponge

painter’s tape

drop cloth

Let me make it clear that I’m in no way a professional, so I’m sure there are other ways to go about this project, but this is just what has worked for me. 🙂 I generally wing it….My philosophy is that it doesn’t matter how you go about a project, as long as the finished result meets your standards!

So first, you’ll want to move to a well-ventilated area and tape off the lamp wires – at least a little – so they don’t turn white! 🙂

Next, spray away! The lamps will dry fairly quickly to handle…maybe 5 minutes or so. Once they were dry, I brought them inside, placed them on some paper towels (in case there were any areas that weren’t quite dry yet).

The lamp color almost looks white, doesn’t it?! But it’s the perfect shade!

Third, squirt a tiny amount of the the rub’n buff onto a paper plate….A little goes a very long way! Dip your pouncer sponge into the gold paint and, using a steady hand, gently slide your pouncer along the bottom edge of the lamp.

So there you have it. A quick, 10-minute project that adds a wow factor!

To top it off, I found my lamp shades at Target on clearance for $13.97 each! Woohoo for more good deals! Plus, these shades ultimately helped me to reach my goal of spending around $15 each on the lamps!

What do you think of my garage-sale lamps? I’d say spending $4 on a little risk was totally worth it! Comment below, or stop by and say hey on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, HomeTalk and Facebook. It always makes my day to hear from my sweet readers!